Virtual Video Project

It's my third day with VVP and it has been great. It has been filled with laughter, games, getting to know people and of course second life. The environment here at VVP is relaxed, everyone can shared their ideas and comments knowing that it will be listened to and not be judged. As we continue the journey here at VVP this summer I feel we will gain not only the knowledge of the virtual world and storywritting but we will have gained alot of great memories to share.

The internet is capable of so much things, you can even live another life online. First day of work I learned about a website called second life. I am interested in this website because it allows you to do as you please and it gives you a place to get away from stress caused by things in reality. Cool Huh!!! By the way, add my secondlife (reeciepooh347) :)

My name is Walleska and I am a NYC public school teacher helping facilitate the Virtual Video Project. In this capacity, I have had the pleasure of getting to know and working with an extremely talented group of students and an energetic and dedicated staff at Global Kids, Inc.

I just finished up my second day with VVP and it has been nothing short of exciting! Yesterday, we introduced youth (and myself!) to Machinima, Second Life, and the new Badging System. Today, youth were split up into different workshops to work on different pieces of their movie. I worked with the screen-writing group on creating an original storyline that highlights health effects due to climate change. Our group heavily debated issues of climate change around the world and were actively engaged in writing a script that educated others on these issues. All in all, it has been an extremely rewarding and jam-packed two days! I am excited to continue helping students in developing their storyline and seeing the final product.

Yesterday fiteen Global Kids Leaders came for our first day of the summer Virtual Video Project. The day was jam packed with introductions to Machinima, Second Life, and BadgeStack. Check out photos below of the first group of students to start the Global Kids summer beta digital badges program!

Youth sigining up for BadgeStack accounts.

Global Kids Leaders draw what their ideal avatars would look like.

Kiva earns the very first community badge by accepting three friend requests.

Ching-Fu Lan now a Ph.D. candidate in the Teaching of Social Studies at Teachers College, Columbia University wrote this research study of our final year of our Virtual Video Project, which produced DIscovered, and has given us permission to share it. Ching-Fu does an excellent job of evaluating the program using the frameworks of Lance Bennett.

Award winning machinima producer, Draxtor Despres' latest video report focuses on using machinima for social good and Global Kids machinima film "Discovered". In it he features interviews with Chris Hall and our own Rik Panganiban.

The MacArthur Foundation recently published a series of articles to the "Behind the Research" section of their Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning site which highlighted some of our programs both past and upcoming.

The Museum of the Moving Image and Global Kids Join Forces to Teach History.

Who learns more about history and current affairs, a student reading about Uganda in a text book, or one who talks to a former child soldier by Skype and makes a Second Life movie about his and his fellow soldiers’ lives? No question. Yet not everyone has this kind of learning opportunity in a classroom. That’s where museums come in.

After the premiere of the VVP machinima, Discovered, there has been several groups and individuals who have posted about the movie. We here at OLP wanted to take a moment and thank them for their words and recognition! Read below for what each group/individual had to say:

About Global Kids

Global Kids, Inc. - the premier non-profit educational organization for global learning and youth development - works to ensure that urban youth have the knowledge, skills, experiences and values they need to succeed in school, participate effectively in the democratic process, and achieve leadership in their communities and on the global stage.

About OLP

The Global Kids Online Leadership Program (OLP) integrates a youth development approach and international and public policy issues into youth media programs that build digital literacy, foster substantive online dialogues, develop resources for educators, and promote civic participation.